EcoLur
In parallel with the discussions on the bill on on the additional water outlet of 100 million cum from Lake Sevan, S.O.S Sevan Initiative has been holding a protest demonstration in front of the National Assembly.
'There is no extra water in Lake Sevan, leave Lake Sevan alone...Sevan is not a swimming pool for you...Our freshwater is necessary for our future generations, you don't have any right to decide on Armenia's future...We are demanding public hearings, we are demanding to take public opinion into consideration...' the initiative members were raising their voices.
'This year only Lake Sevan is returning into its usual form...The Substantiation was illegal and groundless and there is no need to take this additional water from Lake Sevan,' said Inga Zarafyan, President of EcoLur Informational NGO. She mentioned that now a parallel action was being held in Gegharkounik Region, near the entrance of Sevan-Hrazdan water intake.
According to the initiative members, the aim of this bill is to ensure additional profit or Sevan-Hrazdan hydro cascade. 'There is a problem of hydroenergy. When we asked the relevant bodies whether water is let out to produce energy, they said yes, we can't deny that water passes through Sevan-Hrazdan cascade, electricity is produced, but it's also for irrigation system. We can already see the games played here,' Environmental Public Alliance Coordinator Silva Adamyan said.
Nazeli Vardanyan, Director of 'Forests of Armenia' NGO mentioned that the bill doesn't say a word about irrigation, it clearly says that water is provided for energetic purposes. Nazeli Vardanyan has compared the bill with the environmental legislation and outlined contradictions.
'The bill contradicts to the principles set by RA Law on Lake Sevan, which says that Sevan balance can't be negative, but our estimates with the current figures show that if they don't make manipulations and present false figures, the Lake balance is already negative,' Nazeli Vardanyan said.
Levon Galstyan, the member of Armenian Environmental Front, said, 'Because of the elimination groundwater resources in the artesian basin of Ararat Valley, now they want to have the supply of water with Sevan water. Besides, the fish farms, which can't operate now, are expected to move to Sevan and to turn the lake into a fish farm.'
'It was one of the worst decisions, which could have been made towards Sevan...they should take people's opinion into consideration before taking water from Lake Sevan,' Environmentalist Karine Panosyan said.
S.O.S. Sevan Initiative is expressing its special gratitude to all journalists, operators, photographers and mass media representatives taking part in the protest demonstration.
Watch the video for more details.
July 04, 2017 at 16:51